Moscas, metiches, and methodologies: exploring power, subjectivity, and voice when researching the undocumented

Abstract

In this essay, Gerardo R. López, a non-undocumented immigrant scholar, who has done extensive research with undocumented immigrant communities, has a conversation with Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola, an undocumented immigrant scholar with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), who writes and researches issues of how undocumented immigrant students experience schooling from a critical situated stance. Their conversation explores a range of topics that interrogate the problematic nature of researching the self/other, while simultaneously examining the broader purpose(s) of research in the academy.

Keywords:

• Undocumented
• research ethics
• power
• voice
• representation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola

Alonso R. Reyna Rivarola is the assistant director for the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at Salt Lake Community College. His research is concerned with issues of how undocumented immigrants experience formalized and informalized education in the United States. Find him on Twitter@areynarivarola.

Gerardo R. López

Gerardo R. López is a professor in the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University. His research interests focus on issues of (im)migration, parental involvement/engagement, racism, and social justice for marginalized communities. His current research focuses on creating pathways for effective Latina/o/x parental engagement through community organizing and empowerment.